


Could You Tell Me How Convience Store Doors Work?

by APenguinAteMySmarthphone



Category: Prince of Legend (TV)
Genre: I don't take my tags seriously, Japanese Convenience Store, Not Canon Compliant, Not Shippy, Sibling Bonding, Sort of AU, how tf do rich kids talk, just a dumb rich kid and his dumb yankee brother, my tag section is basically my notes, not snobby rich kids, sorta - Freeform, well bred rich kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-09
Updated: 2019-11-09
Packaged: 2021-01-25 23:41:30
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21364588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/APenguinAteMySmarthphone/pseuds/APenguinAteMySmarthphone
Summary: Whenever he visits the convenience store for a late night run- mainly at the request of his younger sister- Takato is always greeted by the same sight: the small aging building with lights that are somehow blinding yet don’t even reach the ends of the parking lot. Occasionally he comes across an anomaly: arguing couples, a fistfight or two, shady guys from another school who might have been selling weed, shady guys with trucks that were definitely selling weed, and one time, by some unknown means, stacks of crates, all filled with mangoes. To this day, no one knew who had delivered them.But none of those came close to the sight of Suzaku Kanade standing dead center in front of the convenience store door.
Kudos: 5





	Could You Tell Me How Convience Store Doors Work?

**Author's Note:**

> For the record, I've never watched the full show. So any characterizations I make may be based on the images I have of these characters.  
I can't say much for the show (aside from the fact that I'm pretty sure it was purposefully making fun of itself, based on what I saw of it), but the characters individually were all kind of unique, in their own stereotypical/original way. Yeah, I know, how could it be both?  
Anyway, I wanted to try writing something for this series, mainly because I think there's plenty of room to write, seeing as there's so much all over the place about this series. It makes it more fun for me. So I don't know if anyone will actually read this, but if anyone does, please! Tell me what you think.

Whenever he visits the convenience store for a late night run- mainly at the request of his younger sister- Takato is always greeted by the same sight: the small aging building with lights that are somehow blinding yet don’t even reach the ends of the parking lot. Occasionally he comes across an anomaly: arguing couples, a fistfight or two, shady guys from another school who might have been selling weed, shady guys with trucks that were definitely selling weed, and one time, by some unknown means, stacks of crates, all filled with mangoes. To this day, no one knew who had delivered them.

But none of those came close to the sight of Suzaku Kanade standing dead center in front of the convenience store door.

“...The fuck?” he murmurs, rubbing his eyes over and over to affirm that he isn’t hallucinating. He isn’t. Unfortunately.

Kanade was just… standing there. His gaze was directed into the store, and for a split second Takato wondered if he was waiting on someone, before realizing that neither of his retainers- the one with the glasses and the one who with the shady smile- were with him. They would die before they left his side, even for a second. The thought forces a wry smile to cross his lips, and he snorts a small laugh before he can help himself.

The next second, Kanade is suddenly wheeling around to face him, eyes wide. His expression goes from startled bewilderment to a calm smile in a matter of milliseconds, and Takato finds himself unwittingly enraptured by the grace he somehow retains, even through such a quick facial transition.

“Takato-san,” Kanade’s smile widens, only slightly, “So nice to see you. What brings you here?’

Takato wonders if Kanade doesn’t realize that he knows neither of them share that sentiment. He may be more brawn than he is brains, but he knows that behind Kanade’s- and by extension his retainers’- smiles and polite, formal speech, there really isn’t much feeling, if any, of truthfulness. His younger brother, Ryu, is more openly hostile about it, seeing them for foxes long before he could, and always seemed to find it aggravating that his older brother refused to show much caution around them.

“Late night snack run,” he responds, casually, “My sister asked.” 

“Is that what convenience stores are for?” Kanade’s eyes give a spark, as if lit by a fire, “To satiate one’s sudden urge for a small bit of food before retiring to bed? How fascinating!”

“Uhh, kinda?” He resists the urge to ask if Kanade could maybe speak in smaller sentences. “I mean, yes and no? Sure, that’s one reason you’d go to a convenience store, but there’s lots of other reasons.”

“Such as?” Now his eyes were positively sparkling. Takato suddenly found his face inches away from Kanade’s, and instantly stepped back, cowed. In the corner of his vision, he could see an employee giving them suspicious looks over the counter, and he realized with a flush of panic that the two of them were still blocking the door.

“I’ll tell you, but first, let’s get inside, yeah?” 

Kanade’s eyes went even rounder, resembling saucers. “Takato-san, you know how to open these doors?”

“Uhhh, what?”

“What a relief! You see, I’ve been standing in front of these doors for ages, but they don’t seem to open. There’s no handle, and I recall Seiichiro telling me these doors were supposed to be automated, so I thought they would open if I stood here, but they wouldn’t open at all! Do you suppose they’re broken?”

Takato felt as bricks were being dropped on his head as he slowly began to understand what Kanade was saying.

“Suzaku, do you…” He really doesn’t want to say the next words, “Do you not know how a Japanese convenience store works?”

“It is my first time visiting one,” Kanade smiles, and this smile hurts Takato for a different reason, because it’s pure and innocent, with no hint of malice, and that makes it all the more painful. “I heard of them through Seiichiro and Gen, and I decided I simply had to see one for myself!”

“Alright,” Takato sighs, because he honestly has no idea what reaction he’s supposed to show at this point, “Lesson number one: see that gray rectangle on the door? That’s like a button, and people push it to activate the automatic doors. Otherwise the doors won’t slide open.”

He carefully grabs Kanade’s hand and guides it to the panel, applying just enough pressure once they touch it to prompt the doors to slide open. 

“Ta-daa.”

Kanade’s eyes open wide yet again, and he rushes into the store with the air of a small child who just discovered a new toy store. The convenience store worker from before gives them a strange look before looking down at his phone, and Takato thanks his lucky stars that there aren’t any other customers or employees; he can’t imagine what a fuss they would’ve caused. 

Kanade was still zooming around the aisles, and from time to time he picked up something from the shelves, inspecting it with the same scrutiny one would an unusual creature. He continued the process for some time, with Takato throwing in a comment every now and then.

“What would this be?”

“That’s a bento box. This particular one has fried chicken.”

“And this?”

“Canned coffee. There’s all sorts of varieties, see?”

“This one looks like bread…”

“Bingo. It’s melon bread. Actually pass me that; my sister will probably wanna eat it.”

“And what is this?” 

“That’s a package of gummy snacks.”

Eventually, Kanade must have tired, because he finally wandered to the drinks section before selecting a drink at random. When it turned out to be beer, Takato hurriedly forced him to put it back, before shoving a bottle of melon soda into his hands.

“If I let you touch alcohol, forget management or the cops; your friends are gonna cut me in half with those decorative swords your dad has.”

There’s a slight moment of awkward silence at the mention of Kanade’s father, the head of the Suzaku family, and by some really strange twist of the universe, their father. 

Takato sometimes forgets how much Kanade loves his mother; it’s a sentiment he both understands yet doesn’t. His mother is alive and well, but the young prince’s no longer is, and he knows that that reality will always create a gap between them. 

He wonders how Kanade can stand to live with his father, but then reality punches him back in the face by pointing out that the young heir has no one else to turn to. It’s reminders like these that are what makes it hard for him to genuinely dislike Kanade, no matter how much of a threat Ryu, with his infinitely greater intellect, perceives him as. 

“I wouldn’t worry,” Kanade smiles, and this time, it’s not a cold or innocent smile, but a warm smile that instantly puts into mind the caring face of the woman on the mantelpiece, the one in that mansion. “You’re a rather tough fighter; I daresay Seiichirou and Gen would have their hands full trying to attack you.”

Takato laughs dryly, “I still wouldn’t wanna risk it. They strike me as the kind of guys who would get, like, a thousand times stronger just for your sake.”

At this, Kanade gives a warm laugh, and Takato finds himself wrapped by the same warm feeling being with his family gives him; the sense of protectiveness, the sense of security, and the warmth of trust and love. He takes the melon soda from Kanade and takes it along with the melon bread to the register.

“Let me pay for this one. After all, siblings do help each other out, right?”

Whether it’s to pay for a drink, or to get through convenience store doors.

**Author's Note:**

> I think I'm gonna be sticking to this series when I write, primarily because it gives me lots of room to write freely and make my own characterizations. I guess you could call this practice? Most of the works I want to write for this series are also not canon compliant, so I probably won't make any callbacks to the original plot. Funnily enough, I don't even know what it really was.  
Like I said, I don't think too many people will read this. I was honestly shocked when I saw the number of hits actually rise on my first work, so all I can say is thank you so much to the kind souls who took the time to suffer through it.  
Next few pieces will probably be more short bits. Then I want to work on a big AU project, so any suggestions or advice would be greatly appreciated!


End file.
